Last Chance
by KitRagnell
Summary: In order to take responsibility for his crimes, Alon agrees to enter a special Hobby Rehabilitation Prison centered around his favorite card game. If he wants to leave, he has to have two things: the skills to win, and the desire for freedom no matter what happens.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Welcome to your last chance of salvation."

At the front of the dimly lit room where all 16 of us were standing stood three tall men, all standing at attention. The two men on the flanks held large assault rifles in their hands in a resting position. They both wore uniforms, but their faces were obscured by their hats and the poor lighting. What was obvious was how muscular their builds were. The main in the middle, a heavyset with a prominent brown mustache, continued.

"Let me make this clear from the start. What you hear on the news and what you will actually experience are very different things. It's my job to make sure none of you see the light of day. Outside these walls, no one misses you. No one is wondering how you are doing. No one will—."

The mustached man was cut off by an opening door. Light streaming in from the hallway masked the newcomer's details in shadow, but at a first look it looked to be a person, about five and a half feet tall. Compared to the three men in front of the room, the newcomer looked like they would be snapped in two with nothing but a sharp glance. The three men turned their heads, and then saluted the newcomer, who was walking to a podium slightly off center in the front of the room.

The door automatically closed and in the adjusted darkness I was able to see a thin woman at the podium. She had dark, wavy hair at a medium length cut and was wearing a finely pressed suit that along with the poor lighting hid her figure. She also looked to be in her mid to early twenties, but these days looks were often deceiving. Without turning away from the men at the front of the room, she spoke in a surprisingly commanding voice.

"Vice-Warden, you are dismissed."

The mustached man bowed his head and left the room through the door. I shielded my eyes from the hallway's light, now expecting it, to stop it from momentarily blinding me. The two guards continued standing where they were, unmoving. The woman started talking in the same commanding voice.

"First, I want to amend one point that my Vice-Warden said. While it is job to make sure you don't leave, we here at St. Deville Hobby Rehabilitation Prison #0073 sincerely hope that you will, in fact, leave these walls one day."

I heard murmurs of surprise around me. The man standing behind me raised his hand with a questioning look on his face. She continued.

"I don't care what your crime is. I don't care who's possibly waiting for you on the outside. The only thing I care about is making sure you pass what's ahead of you with your own strength. You will leave because you want to be rehabilitated; because you want to go back out there. I'm here to provide you with the opportunity to do so."

She paused and glanced down. In the silence, I could hear what sounds to be a notecard flipping over. She looked up, cleared her throat, and continued once more.

"My name is Warden Maria. You are free to refer to me whatever you want, though some names will end up making things a little less comfortable for you in the future. The man that left is my Vice Warden, Kei Musho. The same applies to him, but I assure you he has a lot less mercy than me.

"Let me get started on this brief orientation. If you've heard this before, don't speak up. This prison was conceived and created about twenty to thirty years ago with the HRP Bill and has been at the forefront of the bill's objective. That is the complete and total rehabilitation of a convict through their favorite hobby. Statistics show that the process we use here at Prison #0073 is the most successful out of every prison in this system. The convicts that leave here of their own power, the right way that is, live happy and successful lives. All twelve of them.

"As this is a prison themed around the Yu-Gi-Oh card game, you can imagine what you have to do to become number thirteen."

The man behind me stretches his hand even higher, making grunting sounds as he tried to stand on his tiptoes wanting to be noticed. Maria shot him a fierce look and he backed down. She continued without hesitation.

"If you want out of here, the process is described simply. There are 10 ranks. You start at the bottom. To climb the ranks, you have to not only win, but you have to pass certain exams. These exams will not only test your skills at the game, but will test your resolve, your emotional capacity, and your willingness to rehabilitate. As you climb the ranks, what you can do inside the prison and what luxuries you're given will also improve. Reach rank 1 and… well you know.

"If you want details, then I hope you make some friends. Prisoners of Building F, you are dismissed. These guards here will escort you to your cells."

The Warden turned to the door and walked out in small but confident strides. Soon all fifteen fellow convicts and I were escorted to the lowest level of the prison. We were led into a massive circular room with four large rectangles squared off on the floor in chalk. There were three hallways connecting to the room, the one we just came out of and two more on opposite sides of the room with letters A and B over them. On the far side from where we are, there were four large black boards. We all kept silent as the two guards split us in two groups and led us down separate hallways on opposite sides of the room. I was led into door A. No one spoke as the guard pointed his gun at individuals, then at the cells that would be our home for the foreseeable future.

I entered my cell at the end of the block, the last one in the group of 8 prisoners led into door A. The door closed behind me and I could hear the lock clicking. I agreed to these circumstances, but silent atmosphere surprised me. I was fully expecting non-stop noise and constant wails for mercy. I guess these Hobby Prisons, or HoPi as known by the general public, were tamer than what I saw on the news.

I scanned the small cell and saw two bunk beds on the left and right walls. The left bed was as you would expect from a prison bunk bed, but the bottom bunk on the right bed was converted into a desk. I saw two men in my cell. One of them was sitting silently at the deck and tinkering with a thick rectangular tablet. The other man was lying on the other bed's bottom bunk and looked up from his daydreaming.

He exclaimed, "My god we got a newbie. Sieg, we got a new one!"

The man in the bed sat up and hit his head on the top bunk. He winced in pain, but stood up and walked to where I was standing. Sieg at the desk kept working on his device.

He spoke in a voiced that was way louder than I expected. "You can call me Gal. I've heard all the jokes. That guy over there is Sieg. He doesn't talk much. What's your name? Why are you here? What deck do you use?"

Gal looked at me with exciting eyes. I assumed that at the back of this prison block, he doesn't get many opportunities to meet new people. His voice's volume was almost as loud as a megaphone. Before I could respond, a loud irritated voice came from the cell next door.

"Shut up in there will ya!"

Gal suddenly realized how loud his voice actually was and quieted down a bit. He looked down and held out his hand for a shake. There was a look of shame on his face. I felt as though his volume was a problem among the inmates, and possibly why he was here in the first place.

It seemed like I almost had the wrong first impression. Gal was an averagely built man with a sharp face and a beard that reached the top of his chest. Long dirty blond hair graced his head in an unkempt mess. Like all the other prisoners around here, he was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit with two cargo pockets and brown slipper-type shoes. Through his beard hair, I was able to make out "#6981" stitched onto his chest. The label on mine said "#8352". He must have been in here a while.

At the desk, I could see Sieg. Contrary to Gal, I could see that Sieg was tall and lanky. He sported long grey hair seemingly kept straight by gravity alone. On his back, his hair almost reached half way down, completely covering the prison's name on the jumpsuit. I couldn't catch a good look at his face, nor the number on his chest.

I shook his hand and said "I'm Alon, I don't want to talk about it, and I don't want to talk about it."

Gal responded, "Oh, right. I was getting ahead of myself. Sorry. Anyway your disk is on the top bunk above mine. Start it up and read what it tells you."

I look at my new bed and see a flat rectangular cardboard box, decorated with a red ribbon. I crawled up to the bed, finding it sturdier than I expected, and opened the box. In it was a device similar to what Sieg was tinkering with. It was a rectangular tablet, an inch or so thick with a dark green boarder around the screen, and an instruction book. Turning it around, I could see slots for my deck, a panel labeled "Extra Deck" on the opposite side, and a single slot that the sticker label said was for both the graveyard and back row. I shrugged and turned it some more. On the bottom was a pressure sensitive panel that, as the instruction book explained, would deploy a band-like grip when held up against the arm.

I looked back at the screen and touched it. The device sprung to life and greeted me with "Welcome to the SV Dueling Disk v5.3. Please input your name." I inputted my first and last name and hit the NEXT button. Next, it read "Please insert your deck into the deck slot. Then attach to your non dominant arm to start calibration."

I took my deck out of my pocket and looked at the card on the top. It was a Spellcaster-type Pendulum monster, one of the pillars of my deck. I must have looked at it for a little longer than I noticed, because I was startled by a noise coming from my Duel Disk. I quickly put the deck into the slot; it fit perfectly, and held my left arm against the back of the device. A metal grip extended from both sides and secured itself to my arm. It felt like a watch that was wrapped a notch too tightly. A few seconds later and the cards in the deck shuffled themselves on their own, quickly sticking far out of the deck, then receding back in like magic. Duel Disks existed on the outside, but they were a luxury item. My friends and I were never able to afford one ourselves. I must have made a noise because Gal spoke softly, trying to keep his voice down in consideration of our neighbor.

He said, "It shuffled on ya, right? That means calibration is finished. You might want to fine-tune the settings to your liking that Sieg is doing over there. It's all he ever does anymore."

I leaned over the edge of the bed to talk to Gal. "So when can we use these?"

Right before my bunkmate was able to respond, an announcement rang over the intercom.

A loud voice rang, "Will the following prisoners please make your way to the central Dueling room: 7652, 8200, 3098, 8352, 6998, and 6981."

The lock on our cell door clicked and a guard holding the same kind of assault rifle as before stood in the doorway. I gave Gal a curious look, but he just shrugged. We got to our feet and walked with the armed guard.

Gal whispered, "You got what you wanted sooner than I expected. Maybe the Warden noticed you, or you just got lucky. Anyway, this happens several times a day. And we got a 3-er this time. Very interesting."

I responded in a whisper, "Interesting how?"

"Well the smaller the number, the earlier you've been here, right? A 3-er has a number in the three thousands. He's either lost hope of ascending, or he's terrible. Maybe both, who knows. I'm a 6-er, but I'm close to getting to the next rank. I can feel it."

At this point our escort picked up a third prisoner and we entered the central room together.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As we entered the central circular room, I saw a similar procession to ours enter through the door on the far side. The remaining 3 prisoners escorted by another armed guard. The Vice-Warden stood in the center of the room, between the two central rectangles on the ground. Both groups walked towards him and stopped a few feet away. Kei Musho scratched his mustache and yawned before speaking.

"I know most of you understand how this is set up, but I'm going to say it anyway for the new one there." He pointed at me. "There will be three single Duels happening at the same time. Someone from Block A will Duel someone from Block B. When you're done you go back to your cell, where you belong."

I thought it seemed simple enough. I scanned the three inmates from Block B. Two of them looked relatively normal; short hair, neutral expressions, and bodies that can only be described as "barely in shape". The third caught my attention. Like Sieg back in my cell, he had long hair though this guy still had his hair color. Through the strands of light brown hair that fell on his chest, I was able to make out the first digit of his prisoner number; three. He had a downturned expression on his face, one that reeked of despair. If this is what a 3-er is like, I'm not sure this place will be as easy to get out of.

Kei kept going, "Here are your assignments: 6981 vs 7652, 8200 vs 6998, 8352 vs 3098. You begin in five minutes. Get to your arenas."

The black boards on one of the walls sprang to life. On three of them, scoreboards with the prisoner's names, numbers, and faces were displayed. Below this information was the number 8000, representing that prisoner's LP. I looked at each of the scoreboards being used for these Duels. The three matchups are Greg Barth vs Paul Steiner, Galad Pecus vs Isaac Kol, and Alon Erlas vs Hisan Undou.

I walked to where my armed escort pointed to, at the edge of the third rectangle. Across from me stood Hisan, the 3-er and someone who looked like he didn't want to Duel right now. I almost felt bad for him, but he was here for a reason. I briefly wondered what he did and why he's like this, but my thoughts were interrupted by the Vice-Warden's voice. His voice resonated around the circular room due to the microphone that he was handed just a few moments before.

"Prisoners, begin!"

Almost like magic, a flat blade of hard light projects from our Duel Disks less than an inch from the outside of our forearms. I've seen this before on TV, but never would I have expected that I would be Dueling with an actual Duel Disk. Everyone's decks shuffled automatically at the same time by their respective Disks. We all drew 5 cards and turned our attention to our own Duels. On my Disk, I saw words that read "Opponent's Turn". Hisan sighed when he saw his starting hand, closed his eyes for a minute, and chose one out of the five cards.

Silently, he slipped two Spell cards into the Disk's slot, Reinforcement of the Army and Terraforming. Instantly, two cards popped out from random places in his deck and he added them to his hand. I know I could have looked at my Disk's screen to view what he searched, but before I could, he activated the added Field Spell. The hard light hologram system invisibly present throughout the room surrounded the two of us in a futuristic arena. The space between us was morphed from a concrete floor to what appears to be turf with seemingly random shapes drawn into it with chalk. Confused for a second, I was suddenly hit with what card he just played.

U.A. Stadium. I've never personally played with or against the Ultra Athletes. In the group that I played with in the past, UA was synonymous with laughter or ridicule. I know how they play in theory, but fighting against them in this situation is a first.

"So many firsts today…" I muttered.

Without saying anything again, my opponent places a card on the hard light blade emitted from his Disk. Appearing before him in a flash of light appeared a long haired man in futuristic sports equipment that looked at home on a soccer field. U.A. Midfielder looked straight while bouncing up and down, like he was warming up. The Stadium's crowd cheered and a card popped out of Hisan's deck. This time I made sure to look at my own Disk's screen. Displayed was a text box that listed one sentence, "U.A. Perfect Ace added to hand".

Without another thought, Hisan lifted Midfielder's card off of his Disk's blade and replaced it with Perfect Ace. Midfielder's hologram jumped backwards and passed through Hisan's body, slapping Perfect Ace's hand who was jumping forward at the same time. Like the monster who exited, Perfect Ace had the appearance of a futuristic professional athlete, but for baseball instead of soccer. In his hands were a glowing baseball glove and a shining ball. The athlete kneeled, protecting his Duelist with his beefy 2500 DEF. One of the Stadium's spotlights lit up Perfect Ace, showing that its effect was activated to increase its ATK by 500. Before ending his turn, Hisan slid a card reversed into the slot, setting one card face down. My opponent pressed a button on his Disk's touch screen and my own Disk chimed, singling that it was indeed my turn.

Before I was able to start my Draw Phase, I heard a loud voice to my right, beyond the Stadium's stands. Hisan, Perfect Ace, and I looked to the source of the noise.

"ISSAC KOL! TODAY IS THE DAY THAT I BEAT YOU, MY RIVAL, ONCE AGAIN! ONCE YOU'RE DONE, I WILL FINALLY ADVANCE IN THE RANKS!"

Another voice responded from my opponent's left, apparently from Isaac. He strained to match Gal's voice, but yelled, "FOR THE LAST TIME GAL, I'M NOT YOUR DAMN RIVAL! JUST SHUT UP AND PLAY!"

A third voice, coming from further down the line, yelled, "SHUT UP YOU TWO! EVERY DAMN TIME!"

I silently reminded myself to ask Gal about Kol and anyone else when this was all done. Like the man Dueling me right now, I don't think Sieg is a talkative person. Best to learn as much about my fellow inmates as possible. At least that's what Warden Maria implied in her final words.

Regardless, I drew a card and looked at the six cards in my hand. Three monsters, two Spells, and one Trap. A plan formulated in my head. I wanted to distance myself emotionally from the depressing man in front of me, so I projected my speech and voiced what I was doing.

"I Normal Summon Performapal Skullcrobat Joker."

Much like Midfielder during the last turn, there was a flash of light in front of me. A man wearing a jester's outfit and top hat, all black and purple, appeared when the light subsided.

I continued, "Using its effect, I add…"

Without warning, Perfect Ace stood up from his kneel and threw his baseball at Skullcrobat Joker, hitting him right between the eyes. Ace's form was flawless and the ball appeared to be moving at the speed of light. As he went back to his kneel, my own monster exploded. The Extra Deck slot on my Disk opened and I put Skullcrobat into it, which then it closed automatically.

From reading the card effect on my Disk when he searched it, I knew that Perfect Ace could negate a monster's activated effect and destroy it at the cost of one card in the owner's hand. I was expecting this. Skullcrobat Joker was now in my Extra Deck waiting to be summoned again, Perfect Ace used his ball for the turn and Hisan now had only one card in his hand. It was probably Midfielder. Now my turn can actually begin.

"I discard Violet Poison Magician to activate Pendulum Call. Using it, I add Oafdragon and Iris Magicians to my hand."

Slipping the discarded card and Pendulum Call into the slot, the hidden microphone on my Disk heard my command and two cards popped out of my deck. I grabbed them at the same time and brought them to my hand.

From glancing through the instruction booklet earlier, I learned that the Disk has a microphone to help with knowing what it had to do. Stuff like which cards to search, what to do with the opponent's monsters, and so on could be commanded by voice and if the rules of the game allowed it. After watching my opponent's turn, I realized that he never said a single word and still was able to legally perform his plays. Not only that, but the deck knew what he wanted to search. I thought that was interesting and made another metal note to ask Gal about it later.

No response from the U.A. Duelist, so I continued, "I set Oafdragon as a Scale." No response. "I set Iris in the other Scale." Still no response.

Oafdragon, a magician sporting a green coat, and Iris Magician, representing a bright red robe and cape, both ascended from below the earth in pillars of light. The numbers 2 and 8 appeared below both of them respectively.

I thought about what his face-down could be. It could be a battle trap, a summon trap, or it could be bait. Well there was only one way to find out. Having scales of 2 and 8 meant I could go further.

I slipped another Spell card into the slot while explaining, "I activate Duelist Alliance, and add Pendulumgraph of Ages to my hand. Then I activate it."

I insert Pendulumgraph of Ages into the slot, and the board on my Disk's screen shows it has been activated.

"Finally, I Pendulum Summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon from my hand and Skullcrobat Joker from my Extra Deck."

I placed the Odd-Eyes in my hand in attack mode and Skullcrobat from the Extra Deck slot onto the field in defense mode. Another flash of light and what appeared before me was the jester from before and a dragon colored red and white. I could only see its back since it faces the opponent, but I knew full well that it was a sight to behold; at least to me.

Even with my strongest Main Deck monster out, it still couldn't get over Perfect Ace. Skullcrobat didn't have the ATK to battle over Perfect Ace either. Using Pendulum Call meant I couldn't perform a combo to attack over his Ace.

I declared, "I set one card face-down and end my turn" while inserting the last card in my hand into the slot. I then pressed the End Turn button on my Disk and my opponent's Disk chimed.

A loud laugh came from my right. It was Gal again.

"AHAHAHAHA! DID YOU SEE THAT, ISAAC? YOUR PROTECTORS ARE NO MATCH FOR MY BEASTS!"

Hisan Undou ignored my cellmate's boisterous laugh and drew a card. He looked at the card he just drew. He slapped down the same U.A. Midfielder and it was summoned in the same fashion as before. Another card popped out of his deck and he added it to his hand. Looking at my Disk, he added U.A. Rival Rebounder.

I thought this was a curious choice. I know there are more offensive and better U.A. monsters he could have chosen, but why Rebounder?

Midfielder jumped back to the sidelines and tagging in was Rival Rebounder. Like Perfect Ace and Midfielder, Rival Rebounder had the appearance of a futuristic athlete, but this player's sport of choice was basketball. Another spotlight shined on both athletes, further raising their ATK. Reading its effect, I was astonished to learn that it didn't have an effect when summoned in this situation. He then inserted the last card in his hand into the Disk's slot. Rival Rebounder's hologram was augmented with a futuristic uniform that crackled with electricity.

His last card was U.A. Powered Jersey. It raised Rebounder's ATK even further to 3700, much higher than my Odd-Eyes' 2500 ATK or my Joker's measly 100 DEF. Not only that, but the jersey gave Rebounder a double attacking effect when it wins a battle. I knew I was in for some pain.

Another loud roar from Gal, engrossed in his own Duel, "HOW DARE YOU USE THAT CARD!"

Hisan rotated one card on his field and Perfect Ace stood up. The Duelist pointed at Odd-Eyes and Rebounder threw his basketball at my dragon. The ball exploded on contact, taking Odd-Eyes and 1200 of my LP with it. I felt a brief vibration from my Disk. Someone from the sidelines threw another basketball at Rebounder, rearming the dangerous basketball player. Hisan pointed at my remaining monster, and it too exploded. Both of my monsters entered the Extra Deck.

Finally, Hisan pointed at me, and Perfect Ace wound up his pitch. The pitcher released and a glowing ball hit me in the stomach at full speed. Another 2500 LP gone. A slightly stronger buzz came from my Disk. If that pitch was real, I would have surely been on the floor.

One tap later and it was now my turn. I drew and looked at my fate. With 4300 LP left, I wasn't out of the game yet but I had to make a comeback now. The card I drew is exactly what I needed to win, but Perfect Ace's effect frightened me. How is a Duelist this powerful still in this place? As a 3-er, he's been in here for who knows how long. What happened to him?

I tap my face-down card to activate it and proclaimed, "I activate Pendulumgraph of Spacetime. I target my Oafdragon in the scale and Perfect Ace."

As expected, Ace threw another perfect fastball, negating and destroying my trap. He had no choice after all.

I smirked and continued with my turn. "I Pendulum Summon the two monsters in my Extra Deck and this Tune Magician in my hand."

One flash of light later and three monsters stood on my field in attack position. Skullcrobat and Odd-Eyes looked the same. The newcomer, Tune Magician, looked like a small girl with long pink hair, wearing light blue robes and wielding a staff that sported a tuning fork at the top.

"I activate Tune Magician's effect and Special Summon White Wing Magician from my Deck."

Another card popped out of my deck and I slapped it on the field. White Wing Magician appeared on my field. It looked like a girl with short pink hair cosplaying as the synchro dragon it represents.

"I overlay the level 4 Tune Magician and White Wing Magician! Xyz Summon! Startime Magician!"

On my field, I placed White Wing over Tune Magician and placed Startime Magician's card from my Extra Deck slot on top of those two.

Tune and White Wing Magicians turned into orbs and flew into a vortex of darkness that appeared on the stadium's floor. Coming out of it in an explosion was my key to victory, Startime Magician. A mage cloaked with light and dark blue robes stood in front of me. In his right hand was a silver and black staff that represents the stars, and on his left wrist was a curved golden blade extending past his elbow that represents time. Two gold orbs orbited his body, representing the Xyz materials used for his summon.

One of the golden orbs vanished in a sparkle as I relayed my orders, "I detach one Xyz material and add Black Fang Magician to my hand. Like before, a card popped out of my deck and I added it to my hand. The card I detached to send to the grave was White Wing Magician. The pieces were almost here.

"Next, I activate Iris Magician's Pendulum effect, destroying it and giving Skullcrobat Joker the ability to deal double combat damage against monsters."

Joker's buff didn't matter. He wouldn't be attacking any monsters. The effects coming up is what I was aiming for.

"I activate Pendulum Graph of Ages' effect as well as Iris Magician's monster effect. Ages lets me add Astrograph Sorcerer to my hand and Iris lets me add Pendulumgraph of Spacetime as well."

Two cards popped out of my deck and I collected both of them. Now the stage was set for my comeback.

"Furthermore, I activate Astrograph Sorcerer's effect in my hand! When Iris Magician was destroyed, I can special summon it and add a copy of the destroyed card to my hand!"

I added the newly extended card from my deck to my hand and slapped Astrograph Sorcerer onto the field.

I took a deep breath and announced my coup de grâce, "I tribute Astrograph Sorcerer and banish the four who represent the summons! I banish Iris, the one who represents Pendulum, Black Fang, the one who represents Xyz, White Wing, the one who represents Synchro, and Violet Poison, the one who represents Fusion, from my hand and graveyard!"

There was a rumbling sensation on the field. The walls of the Stadium were crumbling. Ace and Rebounder, who previously had confident looks on their faces, were now starting to shake in fear. Hisan let out a defeated sigh.

I finish my chant, "Integration Summon! Finish this, Supreme King Dragon Zarc!"

I placed my boss monster's card on the field where Astrograph was and a gigantic dragon appeared behind me. Colored with pale gold and light purple, this king of a dragon roared. Instantly, everything on Hisan's field exploded in terror. The Stadium crumbled and I could hear traces of the Stadium's audience scream in terror.

I instantly regretted summoning Zarc because of these negative interactions, but I couldn't think of another way to win. These reactions filled with nothing but terror to my monster's arrival must have been coded in as a sick joke, but I opted to ignore it for the moment. I vowed to limit my Zarc summoning, lest I see this again and get scarred even more. I don't need any reminders of my past right now, however distantly related they are.

With his field gone and only Midfielder in his hand, I felt confident that this duel was finished. The combined ATK of Zarc, Startime, Odd-Eyes, and Joker exceeded his remaining 8000 LP by a good 2700.

I uttered one last word to end the duel, "Attack".

The destruction caused by all four of their attacks can only be described as catastrophic. If any of these attacks were real, there wouldn't be a Building O anymore, let alone the entire prison complex. With the Stadium gone, all four of the Dueling prisoners halted their duels and looked at the destruction that came with Zarc's summoning. As each Disk was only wirelessly connected to their opponent's, there were no reactions from all of their monsters and I was thankful for that.

Gal, who had just finished his Duel moments after mine, clapped and laughed with glee. The remaining prisoners didn't have obvious reactions, but I could feel their uneasiness as the hologram of my monsters disappeared. Hisan looked even more depressed than usual, almost on the verge of tears. I'm not sure if that was from his loss, from Zarc's overwhelming power, or for a more personal reason. Kei nodded and wrote something down in a notepad. The guards just stared forward blankly.

Beyond Gal, I don't think I made a good first impression.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Back in our cell, Gal still continued that jolly laugh. I don't think he's taken a breath since he started. I was beginning to worry when he started to make an effort to calm down.

Still coming down from his laughing fit, he asked me, "I can't believe you would do that to a Broken."

"A… what now?" I replied.

After another minute, he finally calmed down and talked in a serious tone that I wasn't aware he had, "A Broken. You noticed how defeated and depressed he looked even before the Duels started? They say inmate Undou made it all the way to Rank 3 before he completely broke down and fell back to 10."

"You can drop ranks?"

"We prisoners regularly get mental health checkups and interviewed by the staff. It's all a part of the rehabilitation and ranking program. Well if you regress far enough mentally, they send you back down."

Some things were starting to make sense. "Then Sieg…"

Gal interrupted me before I could finish my question. "It's best not to go down that road."

I nodded. Some people's histories are private for a reason. I don't know exactly what happened to Sieg, but if he's a Broken, then I can only wonder what's between me and freedom. I looked at my second cellmate. Just like before we left, he was sitting at the deck, tinkering with his Duel Disk. The silence was deafening and awkward. Gal noticed it too and gave me a slap on the back.

"Anyway the ending to your duel was entertaining to say the least. I was too engrossed in my clash against my true rival to see most of it, but when the walls of that area crumbled down… Oh man that was a thing of beauty."

I fidgeted, having mixed feelings about the whole experience. Gal must not have heard the screams coming from the Stadium's audience or the looks of terror coming from Hisan's monsters. I could only hope that they didn't haunt my dreams too much.

As Gal was expecting a reply, I muttered, "Thanks. I just didn't expect all that destruction to happen. That my first duel using holograms."

Gal let out a belly laugh and gave me another slap on the back. "Exciting, isn't it. With that kind of skill, I bet you can make it out of this place in record time, even if you switched decks."

"Switching decks?"

"Yea, if you look at the menu on your Duel Disk, there is a special option only active within these prison walls. You get a certain amount of credits over time, usually from an allowance or through winning duels. Sometimes the Warden or Vice-Wardens get a bit generous."

I flashed back to Maria and Kei. As warden, Maria seemed to be in charge of the entire prison complex while Kei was in charge of this particular building. So they both have their nice sides at times I guess.

Gal continued, "Anyway through this option, you can buy cards or even entire decks. They arrive from a few days to a week or so, but you can use these cards or decks to trade with prisoners for goods and services. Not that it happens much on the lower levels."

I ask, "You know what's coming up?"

"Well yea. I may have fallen a rank or two since I got here, but I'm always rearing to climb back up. These walls can't hold me forever!" Gal shakes a fist at a random wall.

My cellmate's enthusiasm is a bit contagious. His will to keep trying steels my resolve. My circumstances are unique, but the overall goal is the same.

[One week later]

A few days into my prison sentence and I was lounging on my bed, looking at the different customization options on my Duel Disk. Apparently I can set up "if-when" statements that helps streamline the Dueling process, such as searching a specific card when able and appointing backup options when needed. Thinking back to my first Duel, that's what my opponent must have done for his card searching since he never spoke. I look to the far wall of my cell and see Sieg sleeping, his back to me. All he's done since I got here was tinker with his Disk, sleep, and eat during meal times. I wonder if he also is a Broken like Hisan Undou.

Next, I looked at the card store that Gal mentioned. Comparing some of the more expensive cards I know to the credit balance I had in the corner, I thought it must have been some sort of glitch. There's no way I could have that large amount of credits from just one Duel. Was this the Warden's doing?

Before I could think more about this, an armed guard walked down the hall towards my cell. I couldn't see him, but the sound of their boots became part of the prison's soundtrack. He stopped in front of my cell door and it grinded open.

He ordered, "Prisoner #8352, your appearance is requested. Leave your Disk behind."

I sat up, confused. Below me, Gal let out a whistle. "Looks like the Warden likes you, Alon. My advice to you is to stay on her good side."

I shrugged at my talkative cellmate and followed the guard down the hall. The inmates down the hall took no notice to us. Once in the central room, we turned and headed towards the scoreboards. Only now did I realize that there was a slightly hidden door in the wall. If Block B was on the east side of the central room, then this door was on the north side. The guard took off his hat and held his face to a slightly darker part of the wall. I heard a beep and we entered the now opened door.

This new hallway had no features on any of the walls. In fact the walls were pure white and polished enough to see my reflection. I've barely been able to shave since I got here, so my beard was starting to grow. Now that I thought about my growing face hair, it started to itch. A few scratches and I noticed that my armed escort stopped about halfway down the hallway. To the left was a single door. Unlike the steel doors in the other non-prisoner filled hallway, this one was made of a dark brown wood with a polished golden handle. The guard knocked twice and opened the door, gesturing me inside with his assault rifle. I followed him inside.

Inside was an unexpected sight. It was a windowless office, but it had a warm and comfy atmosphere to it. On the ground was a hardwood floor covered by a large Persian run. On the walls hung several handmade paintings, all of Yu-Gi-Oh cards. I recognized a few of them; El-Shaddoll Winda, Sophia, Goddess of Rebirth, and what looked to be the actual Grisaille Prison. The room was lit by a modest chandelier that bathed the room in a warm but encompassing light. Near the back of the room was a rather large wooden deck with a computer screen sitting on it. Also on the desk were normal desk items such as pen holders, an "In" bin full of papers, and an "Out" bin that was completely empty. Sitting in a slightly large chair for her body type was Warden Maria. In front of the desk was a similar chair, but smaller in scale.

Maria continued tapping on her computer while giving out a few orders. "Guard, you may wait outside until I call for you. Prisoner, please take a seat up here."

The guard bowed and left, closing the door behind him. I advanced into the room and sat on the chair in front of the desk. A few minutes passed with her continuing to focus on her computer. She clicked, scrolled, typed, and even giggled a few times. Finally, she turned to me and revealed a warm smile.

"Alon Erlas, prisoner number eight three five two." She said slowly, reading a notecard on her desk. She then turned to me and looked me in the eyes, "I know of your situation. I know why you're here, and I support you one thousand percent."

Despite her warm smile, I had a nagging feeling as though she wasn't being completely honest. To be honest myself, she was completely intimidating despite her cheery attitude, casual personality, and small frame.

I responded meekly, "You do?"

She laughed. Her laugh paled in comparison to my cellmate's, which he never failed to show off several times a day.

"You chose to come here despite not doing anything explicitly illegal, or so your record says. Your record says that you had a mental breakdown and chose to come here in order to get better."

I couldn't deny it. Despite being a prison, experts on TV said that despite having one of the lowest "outpatient" rates in history, this place exported the most mentally sound ex-cons out of anywhere, both prisons and dedicated rehab facilities. I loved the card game and wasn't all that bad. If I could use it to make myself a better person mentally, then why not volunteer to come here?

She leaned forward, struggling to stay in her chair for a moment. She found her balance and continued, "I did a little digging of my own. I know exactly why you did what you did. However that's in the past and if you're true to your rehabilitation, then you might need some support in here.

"In fact, I'm going to do you a tiny favor. Normally, the process to advance even one rank can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. I'm going to put you on a special 'fast track' program which, provided you keep up with your rehabilitation progress, will shorten the time you're within my walls. What do you say?"

I was flabbergasted. Why would the Warden do this for me? I bluntly asked, "Why would you do this for me?"

She thought about it for a moment, and responded, "Because I believe in you."

She sat back up in her chair. After a brief awkward silence, she continued, "Anyway, I've already done that boring paperwork. You still have to survive and win, but you won't be here forever. Or rather that's up to you."

Stunned, I managed to mumble, "Thank you, Warden Maria."

She let out another laugh, "Just Maria. Although the next time we meet face to face will be our last. Try not to Humpty Dumpty yourself before then."

Suddenly, she shifted into a serious tone that I didn't know she was capable of. "I'm going to tell you this small piece of advice. The advancement exams will break you in ways you won't ever anticipate, physically and especially mentally. If you don't stay strong then you'll end up like Mr. Undou, or even worse. Don't make me regret putting my belief in you."

I couldn't say anything out of shock. It dawned on me that coming here might have been a bigger mistake than I thought possible.

She brought back a smile and yelled, "Guard, we're finished in here."

The same guard from before re-entered the room, bowed to his boss, and motioned for me to leave. I followed him out.

Gal let loose a laugh that I swore rattled the bed despite it being bolted to the wall and floor. I just told him what happened in the Warden's office and was not expecting this reaction. Sieg remained motionless on his bed.

"You really believe that?" He roared, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but she tells that to basically everyone. Nothing ever comes of that empty promise."

The loud laughter continued for a few more seconds, until a chorus consisting of various forms of "Shut up Gal" echoed through the block. Another shameful look crossed Gal's face and he quickly calmed down.

Dialing down his volume, he continued, "Hope is good to have and all, but you shouldn't expect any favors, especially from the Warden. The way she treats anyone with a semblance of talent makes me think she has a death wish. Now the last Warden, he was in a world of his own…"

I was about to ask about the last Warden when a bell rang across the loudspeakers. Lunch. Gal and I sighed, giving each other a defeated look that has become the norm every day around this time. We steeled ourselves and awaited the guard to escort us to the cafeteria. Sieg wisely pretended to still be asleep.

If the prospect of freedom wasn't a good enough incentive, then better food was.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I looked at the gray slop on my tray. I've forgotten how many times I've forced this sorry excuse for food down my throat. Saying "it tastes like chicken" would be an insult to the bird.

How long has it been since I've arrived here? A week? A month? It was impossible to tell what time of day it is outside since we're so far underground. The clocks on our Duel Disks are set to a special "prison time", so there's no guarantee that noon in here is noon outside.

My normal source of cheeriness, Gal, has been gone for a little while now. He just left his cell with a guard and never came back. When another guard came by to pick up his stuff, he mentioned that Gal advanced a rank. With Gal gone, things have gotten quieter since Sieg doesn't talk.

The last words Gal said to me echoed in my head. As he got called away, he looked me in the eyes and said, "In here, out there, or further ahead, we will always be friends; No matter what happens."

I've never had many friends, so this proclamation meant more to me than he probably realized. Since he left, I've begun to realize how much I relied on him and, maybe, how much he relied on me. The words kept repeating in my mind as my face was slowly forced into my gray lunch.

Holding my breath, I waited for the hand on the back of my head to let go. I didn't even need to ask who was tormenting me today. It was a tall, skinny man with short spiky hair that always seemed to have dyed tips. It is a man who was generally disliked among my fellow inmates, barring his usual posse of course.

"What's wrong Erlas? Missing your boyfriend?" the voice taunts from above my head.

Isaac Kol. Prisoner #7652. Gal's self-proclaimed rival, though Isaac keeps denying it. Instead of trying to advance through the ranks, Isaac is the kind of person that goes far out of his way to annoy and sabotage the other inmates. Then he cries fowl when he gets denied for a rank up.

I muttered something through the goop that my face was still getting acquainted with. Isaac lets out a confused sound and lifts my head. Through the falling lunch from my lips, I said in a straight tone, "What's the matter, did your attempt to reunite with him fail so soon? You must really miss him."

Out of the corner of my eye I notice a guard walking towards us with no urgency, holding his rifle down by his hip. My head was forced down into my lunch once again. Isaac lowered his mouth to my ear and whispered in a fast and angry tone.

"Listen to me, Erlas. There are rumors that you have a special arrangement with the Warden. I don't give a crap about you or that annoying 'friend' of yours. I've made sure we're going at it next and when I beat you, the Warden's eyes will be on me. If anyone deserves to get out of this place, it's me."

With that, he pushed me head farther into my lunch and stormed off in the opposite direction of the incoming guard. Seeing that the matter was finished, the guard turned around and walked casually back to his post. I sat up and tried to wipe off this "food" from my face.

Not like anyone would help. My reputation down here is not all that good, coming from my past few duels down here as well as ongoing rumors regarding me and the Warden. I could feel their disdain for me whenever I'm out of my cell. Sieg doesn't seem to care about anything, so I'm at least safe in my own bed.

Isaac's prophecy came true and, soon enough, I was called for another Duel. I recognized his number in the lineup. During my escorted walk to the central room, I briefly wondered how Isaac managed to secure this encounter, but in the end it doesn't matter. Another victory over that man will be another step closer to my way out of here.

Same as all the times before, we were paired off and walked to our positions. Unsurprisingly at this point, I was paired with Isaac. He laughed until the blades of hard light extended from our Disks. It was a weak laugh that was more embarrassing than funny.

As usual, both of us drew the first 5 cards that signified the beginning of the Duel. The first turn went to my opponent as said by my Disk's screen. While he considered his opening hand, I looked at my own. It was composed of two Monsters, two Spells, and a Trap.

This was not the deck I was used to. Since I arrived here, I only really used one deck until now. My somewhat substantial credit balance meant that I was more or less free to make whatever deck I wanted. I was thinking that as long as I'm here, I might as well try to have fun with different archetypes and play styles. Maybe I'll even find one that fits me better.

Isaac Kol laughed from across the field, his first turn's strategy apparently formed in his mind. He picked one card from his hand and placed it onto the hard light blade.

Isaac announced, "I summon Strategist of the Ice Barrier."

In a now-familiar flash of light, an old man appeared with long white hair, a long white beard, and blueish-gray robes. His expression was hidden by his blue and gold wide-brimmed hat.

Isaac continued, "Strategist's effect. I discard Defender and draw one card."

He did so and smiled at his new option. With another cackle, he set one Spell or Trap card and ended his turn.

So Isaac Kol was an Ice Barrier user. It was another joke archetype much like my first opponent's. I knew they had potential to be an annoyance, but I was confident that this duel would be over soon enough. I chuckled and drew the turn's card. Looking at it, my good mood dropped. A Barrier Statue. In theory this was a great card for my current deck, but against a WATER attribute deck like Ice Barriers it was all but dead. Even so, I had my plan for the turn mapped out.

I chose the first monster from my hand and said, "If my opponent controls the monster with the highest ATK on the field, I can Special Summon Dinomist Brachion from my hand."

I slapped the card onto the blade and in an instant my monster appeared in a flash of light. The Dinomist archetype was composed of steam powered mechanical dinosaurs and Brachion was based off of a purple long necked dinosaur. Various energy weapons stuck out of the monster's sides and a low cloud of steam started to accumulate at the bottom of the field. Brachion roared a MIDI roar as I slipped a card into the Disk's slot.

"I activate Dinomist Charge, adding Ptrean to my hand. Then I normal summon it!"

A card extended from my deck and in one fluid motion I grabbed it and slapped it onto the blade. Dinomist Ptrean, a smaller flying monster, hovered in place next to Brachion. Steam forcefully ejected from its wings allowing the orange and yellow pterodactyl to stay in one place. Both mechanical dinosaurs let out MIDI roars.

I continued my turn. "Battle Phase! Pteran attacks Strategist!"

At once, Pteran let out a burst of steam and charged straight towards Isaac's only monster. Isaac responded, "I need that! I respond with this trap, Waboku!"

A soft pink aura covered Strategist's form. On contact, Pteran bounced off of the target's body. For the rest of the turn, I couldn't destroy that monster nor could I deal any damage.

"I set one card and end my turn." I slid one card into the slot and passed the turn over to Kol. He responded by drawing a card and laughing. All this laughing was starting to get on my nerves.

"Not only did I need my monster, but I need yours as well. I activate The Monarchs Stormforth!"

He seamlessly slid a card from his hand into the slot and a vortex started to form on the field. I knew more or less what was coming. He was planning on using one of my monsters to summon a high leveled monster.

Isaac yelled over the vortex, "I tribute your Dinomist Brachion and my Strategist! Come forth, General Gantala of the Ice Barrier!"

The monsters that Isaac declared disintegrated into pixels of light that, through the Stormforth, combined on his side of the field. There was another flash of light, and a dark muscular man stepped towards me. On his bald head looked like a light blue snowflake, the Ice Barrier's crest. Clothed in a lose light blue robe that reminded me of a toga, Gantala assumed a martial art's battle stance; his left hand glowing blue with the power that the Ice Barriers wielded.

Kol said one word, "go", and General Gantala rushed towards my remaining monster. In one movement, he punched clean through Pteran's mechanical body with his glowing left hand. It exploded in a burst of steam and fire and my LP dropped to 7100.

Isaac laughed more. "I know of the Ice Barrier's reputation, but this deck is mine. It responds to my will through an unseen bond."

I knew he was trying to psych me out. There was no such thing as a deck that responds to its user's wishes. It's all based on luck, deckbuilding, and strategy.

I ignored his taunt and said, "Due to Dinomist Charge's effect, Pteran returns to my hand."

Isaac responded, still laughing, "Very well. During the end phase, I can Special Summon an Ice Barrier monster from my graveyard. Come back, Defender of the Ice Barrier!"

Once again, a flash of light lit up the field. Coming out of it was some sort of fox covered with armor and ice sticking out of its tail. It assumed a defensive stance, displaying its 2000 DEF. Thankfully, Isaac didn't gloat about its effect, instead opting to laugh harder, which stops my monsters from declaring attacks if they have more than 200 ATK. He's sealed my attacking for the moment. I had outs to this psudo-lock, but will I draw any of it? Gantala's fearsome 2700 ATK is still something to consider when planning my next turn.

I drew my card, trying to ignore Isaac's annoying laughter. He had no backrow, so I can perform my turn uninterrupted. It wasn't the most optimal monster, but it will have to do.

"I place Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer and Dinomist Plesios in my Pendulum Scales."

Out of the sides of my half of the arena, Luster Pendulum and Plesios's forms rose out of the ground in pillars of light. Below Luster, the number 5 was displayed and under Plesios, the number 6.

I continued, "Luster's Pendulum effect, I destroy Plesios and add another to my hand. Due to Charge, it goes to my hand instead!" I retrieved the Plesios from the edge of the hard-light blade and the second Plesios that was now sticking out of my deck. While I had a low scale in my hand in the form of Pteran, I decided to not Pendulum Summon this turn in case I end up over extending.

"I set one monster and end my turn."

I needed to stay defensive for the moment. I had access to an escape from this situation but for all I know Isaac could counterattack and leave me without many resources. If I take more damage now, the so be it. I just have to be patient.

Isaac drew his card and grinned. He placed the card he drew onto the blade.

"I Summon Pilgrim of the Ice Barrier."

Appearing now was a light skinned man with long blond hair. A small Ice Barrier crest was embedded in his forehead. His eyes were closed, hands held in a prayer position, and was chanting sutras under his breath. Prayer beads jingled from his arm as he chanted.

Isaac pointed towards my set monster. Pilgrim chanted harder and a beam of light shot out of the crest on his forehead, penetrating the set card. My monster, Dinomist Plesios, destroyed and returned to my hand due to Charge's effect.

"Go," Isaac commanded.

In another swift movement, General Gantala of the Ice Barrier appeared before me and delivered a punch to my gut. I was thankful that these were just holograms otherwise that would have really hurt. My LP dropped to a lower 4400.

As expected, Isaac laughed. He taunted, "What's wrong, Erlas? I'm right here. Come and get me! I'll even give you a small handicap and not use Gantala's effect this turn. I want to see what you can do without your 'boyfriend' as motivation. You're nothing but a waste of everyone's time and attention."

I forced myself to not get riled up at his taunt as I drew a card. Looking at it, it was time for my counterattack.

I declared, "In my empty Pendulum Scale, I set Master Pendulum, the Dracoslayer."

Much like before, a pillar of light appeared where Plesios' was but this time, another figured ascended; the number 3 displayed under its form.

I continued, "Pendulum Summon! I bring out two Dinomist Plesioses and Dinomist Pteran!"

All three monsters appeared at once. The two dark blue and black Plesioses let out another MIDI sounding roar with the Pteran. Going forward, I pressed my face-down card on my Disk's touch screen to activate it. A card popped out of my deck before I could announce my play. The "If-Then" statements I programmed for this deck seemed to be working.

"I activate Dinomist Rush, Special Summoning Dinomist Ankylos from my deck!"

This time, a thick cloud of steam appeared next to my monsters. A dark shape appeared in the cloud and let out a similar sounding MIDI roar. The steam vanished as quickly as it appeared, showing off a dark blue mechanical Ankylosaurus with glowing metal spikes on its back. Isaac stopped giggling, sensing that I wouldn't have summoned four monsters without having a way to get past his lock.

I declared, "I overlay both Dinomist Plesioses! Xyz Summon! Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer!"

I placed both Plesios cards on top of each other and a card sprang out of the Extra Deck slot on my Duel Disk. While I was normally all for keeping my deck as 'Dinomisty' as possible, I had some spare room in the Extra Deck which allowed me to add this guy.

On the field, both Plesioses turned into bright blue orbs that entered a black vortex which suddenly appeared on the arena floor. An explosion of light erupted from the vortex, and appearing out of it was the Xyz monster I summoned. Castel was a bright purple humanoid figure with avian-like features. Dressed in a traditional musketeer outfit, it was equipped with a wooden musket, a sword on its hip, and two gigantic wings on its back. Two bright yellow orbs signifying its Xyz materials orbited its body. They wouldn't be there for long.

"I detach both of Castel's Xyz materials to send Defender back to your deck!"

Both of Castel's orbs made contact with its body and the musketeer took aim at Defender. One shot, and the Defender's hologram was flung back through its master and disappeared beyond the far wall. My opponent grumbled and shoved his card back into his deck, which then shuffled automatically. One down, two to go.

"Next up, I Normal Summon Barrier Statue of the Torrent and immediately overlay it with Dinomist Ankylos!"

The moment that the blue statue appeared on my field did it get sucked into the Xyz vortex. One more explosion of light and what came forth was a menacing white shark that featured sharp appendages that brought with it the appearance of a spider. 8 pink orbs on the front and top of its body shined and the tattoo featuring its signature number gave off a faint glow.

I continued, "Xyz Summon! Number 37: Hope Woven Dragon Spider Shark! And I activate its effect!"

One of the overlay orbs that just appeared around 37's body dissipated above Isaac's monsters, showering them with a golden flurry. Gantala and Pilgrim both looked up, momentarily distracted which ended up costing them 1000 of their ATK each. Now they were within killing range.

I declared the start of the battle phase and ordered my Pteran to attack his weakened pilgrim. In an instant Pilgrim exploded and in doing so dropped Isaac's LP to 6700.

A card that I previously programmed popped out of my deck, waiting to be added to my hand as per Pteran's effect. I grabbed it while telling my opponent, "Due to Pteran's effect, I add Dinomist Rex to my hand."

Next up it was Castel's turn. I nodded at the skyblaster's hologram and it aimed its musket at Gantala. A squeeze of the trigger and the Ice Barrier's General fell and with it, Isaac's LP.

I wanted to personally declare the direct attack, so I said, "Finally Number 37 attacks you directly!"

A torrent of water erupted out of the Spider Shark's mouth, completely engulfing my opponent. If the water was real, he could have been seriously injured by the force alone. His LP now rested at a low 3800. I smugly ended my turn by pressing the appropriate button on my disk's screen.

Isaac looked furious. He had no field and his LP was in danger. Two cards left in his hand spelt no obvious way out of his predicament. I wanted to laugh at how limited his options were, but before I was able to intake air Isaac drew his card and let out a laugh of his own.

In the midst of his laughing, Isaac said, "You think you got me, don't you? My Ice Barriers have defended their world from destruction and they'll protect me now!"

I wanted to interject his boasting by correcting him, but he immediately popped his drawn card into his disk's slot and continued, "I activate Salvage, adding Defender and Pilgrim from the graveyard to my hand."

As he added those cards, I realized what he was planning. If he summoned Defender again, there was no way I could get over it with my current field though I still had possible outs. I cursed myself for not anticipating this and using Castel's other effect instead. Then I was surprised when Isaac jammed a second card into the spell and trap slot.

"I activate Magic Triangle of the Ice Barrier!"

He revealed his hand to me and the holograms of Defender, Pilgrim, and a new Ice Barrier surrounded me on three sides. The triangle formed from their positioning glowed into a bright yellow light.

Kol continued, "Number 37 is destroyed and I Special Summon Dai-Sojo of the Ice Barrier from my hand in defense position!"

Hope Woven Dragon Spider Shark fell into the triangle's light, vanishing from existence. I wordlessly activated its effect and summoned a Dinomist Pteran from my graveyard.

Dai-Sojo jumped from its position on the triangle onto his master's field. He looked to be a dark skinned man with a wide brimmed hexagon hat sporting blue and purple robes. He extended his staff in front of him, creating a hexagon shaped barrier that boasted a somewhat impressive 2200 DEF. That barrier prevented his Ice Barrier monsters from being destroyed by Spells or Traps, so I had to run over it.

At least that was the plan before he summoned a familiar monster to his field. Defender. This was going to take a while.

He ended his turn with that and I drew. It was my second copy of Master Pendulum. I ended my turn, biding my time until I could make a comeback.

Isaac drew. He set the card he drew and ended his turn.

I drew. My second Dinomist Pteran. I might not be able to defeat him next turn, but with the proper setup, I can finish it during my next turn.

"I Pendulum Summon my second Pteran and Master Pendulum from my hand!" I called. Both monsters appeared on my field, then another black vortex appeared on the ground as I stacked those two summoned cards on top of each other.

"I overlay those monsters to Xyz Summon Majester Paladin, the Ascending Dracloslayer in defense position!"

What came forth this time was Master Pendulum riding on what looked to be a unicorn. I thought nothing of it and ended my turn, a card popping out of my deck as I pressed the button. I added that card to my hand, my third Dinomist Pteran. Now I can come back next turn and if he destroys one of my scales, I can replace it easily.

Isaac drew and let out another laugh. He slapped down one monster onto the disk, the monster he just drew.

"I summon Secret Guards of the Ice Barrier!"

A boy appeared on his field in a flash of light. He had short white hair, blue combat robes and two sharp swords in his hand. Since Isaac summoned a monster now, he must have some sort of counterattack while hiding behind his Defender.

He taunted once more, "This is the strategy I used to defeat your boyfriend whenever we fought! He stood no chance against me and now you'll fall too!"

I wanted to interject and correct him that Gal beat him at least once, but before I could he tapped on his disk's screen.

"Like before, I'll use one of your monsters! I activate Synchro Material, targeting your Pteran! I tune your level 4 Dinomist Pteran and my level 2 Secret Guards to my level 3 Defender!"

Surprised, I watched as my Pteran fly with the white haired boy into a series of rings that erupted out of Defender's body. I counted their combined levels on my fingers.

Nine.

A piercing howl shouted from the ball of light where the Synchro Summoning was occurring. The room's temperature fell and I began to see my breath. A short wall of pure ice began to form around the edges of the arena. I knew what was coming. She was here.

As if on cue, Isaac let out a laugh more confident and smug than before, apparently unaffected by the cold.

Wait a second, how could a hologram program lower the temperature of the arena? I pushed that question to the back of my mind and the monster appeared.

A three headed dragon exploded out of the ball of light in a frozen shockwave. The dragon had a dark blue body with light blue scales on his chest, heads, and wings; a very light blue that reminded me of snow or ice. It hovered in place as a layer of frost begins to build up on my monsters. Majester began to shiver and Castel pulled some sort of cloak over his body.

Isaac shouted, "I summon Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier! Behold the monster that freezes your past, present and future!" He looked at his disk and pressed the touch screen a few times before continuing, "Trishula banishes the Luster Pendulum on your scale, the left card in your hand, and a Plesios in your graveyard!"

I stopped shivering a breathed a visible sigh of relief. He hit the card in my hand I wanted him to hit, Twin Twisters. Good fortune has left me with a chance for victory. I tucked the chosen cards into my jumpsuit's chest pocket.

Isaac was forced to end his turn at that. The Synchro Material he activated prevented him from entering his Battle Phase. I drew a card and knew that victory was soon going to be mine.

"I set the Dinomist Plesios I just drew, Scale 6, into the now empty Pendulum Zone!"

Isaac's laugh was cut short. He banished one of my scales so I couldn't Pendulum Summon out a response, but by banishing my high scale, I was able to replace it with a higher scale that opened my plays up for more possibilities. Kol looked a bit scared, his smug and confident expression now replaced with a worried look that he failed to hide behind any sort of bravado.

I dove into his fear and declared, "Now that I can finally Pendulum Summon level 5s, I will! I Pendulum Summon Pteran and Brachion from my Extra Deck and Rex from my hand!"

The two familiar monsters from the Extra Deck appeared along with a gigantic green mechanical T-Rex. All three monsters let out a harmonized MIDI roar that cracked the ice around them. Trishula and Dai-Sojo did not respond, as apparently they weren't programmed that way.

I stacked Rex and Brachion on top of each other. Going for a Rank 5 was my best way out. Unfortunately, the Cyber Dragons I ordered were due to arrive tomorrow, so I had to make do with my backup choice.

"I overlay Rex and Brachion to Xyz Summon a Rank 5 monster!"

Both Dinomists entered the vortex and a new monster came out of the explosion of light that followed. It was a monster that was unfamiliar to most, but I saw it in the prison's store and had to have a copy. A woman appeared draped in a long blue robe with brown spikes coming from the back end of it. Crystals decorated her dignified headpiece and adorned her chestpiece. The crystal saber on her right hand shined amongst the ice-covered battlefield.

"Come forth, Number 94: Crystalzero!"

Isaac gaped in awe at the monster that was just summoned. In this day and age, not many people chose to summon it opting to go for more powerful Rank 5s instead.

"Crystalzero's effect activates! I detach one to halve Trishula's ATK!"

One of Crystalzero's orbs, the one that contained Dinomist Rex, made contact with its sword and the Xyz monster slashed the air in a horizontal motion. The ice that encompasses the battlefield shatters with the crystal sword's stroke. I switch Majester Paladin into attack position and point at the weakened dragon.

"Dinomist Pteran, destroy Trishula!"

The robotic dinosaur charged into Trishula, destroying it in an explosion of ice and steam. One more card popped out of my deck as I said, "Pteran's effect lets me add Dinomist Charge." I took it and ended my turn, as Castel, Crystalzero, nor Majester could get over Daisojo's 2200 DEF. Isaac was left with 3350 LP.

Shaken by this turn of events, the now silent Isaac drew a card. He thought about his new option for a moment and chuckled.

"This isn't over yet. My deck knows what I need. I Normal Summon Prior of the Ice Barrier!"

What came forth was a middle-aged man wearing a white robe with a blue hooded cloak. On the end of his tall staff was a mirror that glistened with in the melting ice around the arena.

Isaac continued, "I tribute Prior to bring back Trishula from the graveyard!"

Prior split in two and coming out of his body was Trishula once again. The arena froze over once more and Trishula roared. Isaac pointed at Crystalzero and a beam of pure frozen energy blew out of Trishula's mouth, destroying my monster. My LP fell to 3900 as a result.

He regained his confidence as he ended his turn with another laugh.

I drew my card and smiled. Isaac stopped laughing and opened his eyes in fear. He was expecting me to beg for mercy before his dragon. Soon it would be the other way around.

"I activate Dinomist Charge, adding Dinomist Stegosaur to my hand"

When I added the popped out card to my hand, I grabbed the card I drew for the turn and slapped it onto the blade. A burning red sprite with a tuning fork appeared, giggling gleefully.

"Red Resonator's effect lets me Special Summon Stegosaur!" Out of a portal that Red Resonator opened up stepped a green mechanical stegosaurus with black blades on his back that glowed a bright blue. Isaac's fearful reaction hasn't changed.

"I tune the level 4 Stegosaur to the level 2 Red Resonator! Synchro Summon!"

Another ball of light as the two monsters synched together. Popping out was a silver winged beast; not quite a dragon but not quite a bird. It sparkled with godly radiance that was blinding against the ice.

I said the name of the monster that sealed my victory, "Metaphys Horus."

I pointed at Trishua and said, "Since you're such a fan of using my monsters as your own, I think I'll do the same to you. With Horus' effect, I take control of Trishula."

The ice dragon flew up and back down onto my side of the field. Isaac Kol began shivering, his beloved dragon now turning her icy powered against him. All that was left on his field was Dai-Sojo, whose hologram also began to shiver from Trishula's extreme cold.

"Battle! Horus, destroy Dai-Sojo!"

Metaphys Horus fired a blast of sound out of its beaked mouth, shattering Dai-Sojo as if he was made of ice. My three remaining monsters had a total ATK of 5650 since Trishula could not attack. That was more than enough to bring down Isaac's remaining 3350 LP. Victory was mine.

"Attack."

In an instant, the Duel was over. The holograms disappeared and the atmospheric temperature returned to normal. As I started to walk back to my block's guard, a familiar voice resounded around the room, originating from the hidden loudspeakers.

"Prisoner #8352, please remain where you are."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Describing my current mood as "salty" would be an insult to the Dead Sea.

Before we began, the examiner, a tall man with a muscular build named Heim, only said, "This is a test for your resolve."

This was a grind game from hell. My graveyard became full of Pendulum Monsters unfamiliar to their surroundings. Heim's backrow spouted from his deck, never ending. Summoning became useless. I try to Normal Summon. It was once again met with the same Compulsory Evacuation Device as a previous turn. I returned the monster back to my hand and eyed his face-down monster, knowing exactly what it is. His next turn, he flips it revealing a Mask of Darkness and returning the same trap as before back to his hand. A book of moon in his hand flipped the Mask back down. The other four cards he's set were silently taunting me, daring me to summon more or to try and get rid of them.

Since my gatekeeper wasn't talking, I refrained from starting a conversation. I would have admired the silence if not for the Sodom-sized pillar of salt that this duel was turning me into. I once witnessed a professional Duelist on TV charge straight for his opponent after a similarly one-sided game, hoping to inflict damage with his Disk's hard light blade. While he was stopped by security, I felt a small invisible connection with him.

I wanted to quit. I wanted to have fun with this game, not punch the equivalent of a concrete wall with my bare hands. Going back to my cell with a quiet cellmate and terrible food would be so easy. All I had to do was tap the surrender button and be escorted back to bed.

I realized early on that that's what he was hoping for. Heim didn't have to win; he just had to not lose. His freedom and happiness wasn't relying on this Duel's futile process and outcome. Somehow his overbearing silence was more annoying than Isaac's constant taunting and laughter.

I drew a card and ended my turn without looking at it. He drew a card and ended his turn. I drew one more and passed. He drew one more and passed. A stalemate held up by the five face-down cards on Heim's back row. Even if I could hold a monster on the field for more than a few seconds, attacking into his face-down Mask would give him access to any of the many negation traps sleeping in his graveyard.

The turns passed in silence. It was an endless cycle of drawing and discarding to hold the upper hand size limit. I calmed down from almost exploding out of frustration, my increasing rage barely contained.

What felt like hours passed before our boring competition of will. It was hard to tell. No progress made on either front. Our decks were thinning one card at a time. More turns passes and I was getting bored. The urge to quit and go "home" was increasing with every passing draw and discard.

"That's enough" Heim suddenly proclaimed.

Startled, I refocused on the Duel. His deck slot was empty. Has it really been that long? Or rather, was it really that long? I rubbed my eyes. After a brief pause, he continued.

"Prisoner, as a show of your resolve and not quitting, you have proven that you have the potential to survive the ordeals in front of you."

He nodded at the guard, somehow still awake and alert. The guard walked over and motioned with is gun for me to follow him. I obliged and together we walked to the same hidden hallway that Maria's office stemmed from. Instead of turning into the warden's office, we walked to the end of the hallway where an elevator sat open. Once inside, the guard pressed a button labeled "9" and the metal box ascended. A surprisingly amount of minutes passed in silence before the elevator stopped at the appropriate floor.

In front of us sat a deck with a single sheet of paper and a chained pen on it. On the paper was legal jargon that I couldn't understand. It was a contract of some kind. I looked closer, trying to find words and sentences that made sense. The guard yawned. I yawned in response. Together we yawned once more. I gave up on my search for meaning behind this contract and signed my name at the bottom.

Next, we moved to a door at the other end of the room. The guard inputted a long code into the number pad beside the door. The door slowly swung open towards us. To myself, I wish that some fog or smoke would creep out of the floor for effect.

To my left, I heard a voice say, "It's Virgil. That's my name."

I turned my head to the newly named guard. He didn't offer his hand so I didn't offer mine.

I responded, "Alon."

During the ensuring awkward silence, the door finished opening and we continued inside. Another hallway composed of concrete ceiling, floor, and walls. At the other end was yet another door that led into a familiar looking circular room. It was the same setup as the 10th level below complete with the same rectangles panted on the floor. I was led into the west cell block. We passed cells in silence, the faces inside rarely looking up to see who was coming through. We stopped in front of the last cell at the very end of the long hallway. Virgil unlocked the door and I stepped inside, the door shutting and locking behind me.

Inside, there was a singular bunk bed on the left wall. A slab of concrete extended out of the right wall at about waist height for several feet. At the far end there was a chest high wooden barrier that hid a toilet. On the bottom bunk of the bed sat a familiar figure.

I smiled and said to the figure, "Did you miss me?"


End file.
